The news media are reporting that the terrorist who killed eight Americans and wounded a dozen others in New York City came to this country in 2010 on an immigrant visa under the diversity visa lottery program.

I hope the Trump administration does away with this program as recipients can become financial burdens to society once they arrive because they have no means of support.

America, with its $20 trillion debt, can ill afford more welfare recipients who, as it now turns out, can easily become terrorists. This is not my first, nor is it my second, request to the administration to do away with this program. Action needs to be taken, and it needs to be taken now!

If you followed the 24/7 coverage of the New York City attack, you wouldn't hear the word "blowback." Which is a shame because blowback is what likely inspired Uzbekistan native and suspect Sayfullo Saipov to rent a truck and mow down pedestrians just a few blocks from the World Trade Center. Since he survived the shooting that ended his crime, we may learn more about his motivations. But hollering "Allahu akbar" (Allah is greater) surely points to revenge for American bombings all over the Middle East.

A consequence of our needless slaughter of folks as innocent as the eight snuffed out in New York is that some individuals connected with people we're defiling will risk death to get a measure of vengeance, which is precisely what blowback entails.

We would all become safer from such attacks if we'd end our senseless, futile wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Pakistan, Libya, Syria, Yemen and Niger for starters. We should stop selling countries hundreds of billions in weaponry that often end up in the hands of folks trying to kill us.

We should focus on negotiating and peacemaking among countries and the multiple disparate groups and sects willing to die for their imagined God or cause. We should stop promoting utterly self-defeating "preventative" war with North Korea, Iran or any other country we fear and hate. We must wrest control of our country from the masters of war who are soulless in their zeal to control the world through war and violence. If you think that is beyond your meager powers as a solitary citizen, consider this: You may end up lying under the next truck rampaging down a pedestrian sidewalk.

President Trump said he would renew efforts to kill a particular immigration program in the wake of the terrorist attack in New York City. Reader comments are edited for clarity and grammar:

Wow, a lot of outrage from the right this morning. You all were pretty quiet when it was a white guy with assault rifles in Las Vegas. While it was too soon to talk about gun violence that day, Trump wastes no time trying to push his white, Christian-only immigration policy.

— Steve Byers

Another Muslim. ... The attacker in Las Vegas was tough to prevent. This attacker would have been very easy to prevent! Maybe it is time to say we are closed to immigrants.

— John Smith

short of stopping all immigration of Muslims there's probably not much the U.S. can do to stop individual radicalization.

The subhuman who mowed down innocent people on a bike path came here in 2010 on a diversity visa lottery program, which started as legislation introduced in 1990 by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. The victims' blood is on the hands of Schumer and all liberals.

— Frank Harding

The diversity visa program was a part of the Immigration Act of 1990, which was introduced by Sen. Ted Kennedy, and the lottery program was the one introduced by Schumer. The act had support by both parties and was signed into law by President George H.W. Bush in November of 1990. Last time I checked, Bush wasn't a liberal.

— Zachary Chopp-Adams

After 8 years of “open door policy” our current POTUS has us steered in the right direction. Cannot be corrected overnight.

I’m glad the suspect is alive. Time to interrogate him, figure out who helped and directed him, then put him in solitary confinement for life. He should have no access to people other than his guards.

— Bryan Sackmann

If this terrorist was allowed in on a diversity visa, perhaps we should reevaluate that program. This is not the kind of diversity the U.S. needs. There are millions of potential immigrants who actually want to be part of this country and become Americans. As opposed to the likes of this guy who probably wanted the economic benefits but live apart, reject our culture and secretly hate us.

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A local resident reacts after placing an Argentinian soccer jersey at a makeshift memorial for the Oct. 31 terror attack victims along a bike path in New York, on Nov. 2, 2017. Jewel Samad, AFP/Getty Images

People take part in a vigil for those killed the day before in New York, on Nov. 1, 2017. The Council on American-Islamic Relations organized the event a day after the attack in lower Manhattan that killed eight people. John Moore, Getty Images

Jimmy Drake holds a picture of and talks about his son Darren Drake, on Nov. 1, 2017, in New Milford, NJ. Darren, a project manager for Moody's Investors Service at the World Trade Center, was among those killed in the bike path attack in New York. Ed Murray, NJ Advance Media, via AP

New York City Police Officer Ryan Nash speaks to reporters at the Suffolk County Police Department's Fifth Precinct on Nov. 1, 2017, in Patchogue, N.Y. Nash shot the driver of a rental truck that ran down pedestrians and bicyclists in a suspected terrorism attack in New York City on Oct. 31, 2017. Frank Eltman, AP

This Oct. 28, 2017 photo provided by Cecilia Piedrabuena shows from left to right; Hernan Ferruchi, Alejandro Pagnucco, Ariel Erlij, Ivan Brajckovic, Juan Pablo Trevisan, Hernan Mendoza, Diego Angelini and Ariel Benvenuto, gather for a group photo before their trip to New York City, at the airport in Rosario, in the province of Santa Fe, Argentina. Mendoza, Angelini, Pagnucco, Erlij and Ferruchi were killed in the bike path attack near the World Trade Center. They were part of a group of friends celebrating the 30th anniversary of their high school graduation with a trip to New York. Cecilia Piedrabuena via AP

The Argentine and U.S. flags are lowered to half-staff on the facade of the New York Stock Exchange, Nov. 1, 2017. The Argentine foreign ministry has identified the five of its citizens killed in the bike path attack near the World Trade Center on Tuesday. Richard Drew, AP

A vehicle is surrounded by a police perimeter in the parking lot of a Home Depot store, Oct. 31, 2017, in Passaic, N.J. Police investigating a rented Home Depot truck's deadly rampage down a bike path near New York's World Trade Center surrounded the white Toyota minivan with Florida plates parked in a New Jersey Home Depot lot. Julio Cortez, AP

As ordered by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the spire of One World Trade Center is illuminated in red, white and blue following the deadly rampage down a bike path not far from the building, Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. Craig Ruttle, AP

Authorities stand near a damaged Home Depot truck after a motorist drove onto a bike path near the World Trade Center memorial, striking and killing several people on Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. Craig Ruttle, AP

This image made from a video provided by Tawhid Kabir shows the suspect in a deadly attack running across the street with a fake gun in each hand on Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. The man mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Center memorial on Tuesday, before he was shot in the abdomen by police after jumping out of the truck, authorities said. YouTube/Tawhid Kabir via AP

This undated photo provided by St. Charles County Department of Corrections via KMOV shows the Sayfullo Saipov. A man in a rented pickup truck mowed down pedestrians and cyclists along a busy bike path near the World Trade Center memorial on Oct. 31, 2017, killing several. Officials who were not authorized to discuss the investigation and spoke on the condition of anonymity identified the attacker Saipov. St. Charles County Department of Corrections via AP

Members of the Paterson police department block of Genesse Ave. near Getty Ave. where it is believed that terrorist Sayfullo Saipov 29, lived in an apartment building. Saipov plowed a pickup truck down a crowded bike path along the Hudson River in Manhattan on Tuesday, killing eight people and injuring 11. Amy Newman, Northjersey.com via USA TODAY Network

Police investigate the scene at a bike path in lower Manhattan after a motorist drove onto the path near the World Trade Center memorial, striking and killing several people on Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY

Emergency personnel transport a man on a stretcher after a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people on Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. Mark Lennihan, AP

David Yagerman hugs his daughter, Amanda Yagerman, 15, after reuniting with her early Tuesday evening in New York. Yagerman, a student at Stuvesant High School, said the truck attack occurred near the school entrance. Wexler, Kevin, NorthJersey.com

Investigators inspect a truck following a shooting incident in New York on Oct. 31, 2017. Several people were killed and numerous others injured in New York on Tuesday when a suspect plowed a vehicle into a bike and pedestrian path in Lower Manhattan, and struck another vehicle on Halloween, police said. A suspect exited the vehicle holding up fake guns, before being shot by police and taken into custody, officers said. The motive was not immediately apparent. Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

Authorities respond near a damaged school bus on Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. A motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people on Tuesday police and witnesses said. Mark Lennihan, AP

Emergency personnel carry a man into an ambulance after a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people on Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. Mark Lennihan, AP

New York Police Department officers gather near the scene after a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people on Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. Mark Lennihan, AP

In this photo provided by the New York City Police Department, officers respond to a report of gunfire along West Street near the pedestrian bridge at Stuyvesant High School in lower Manhattan in New York on Oct. 31, 2017. Martin Speechley, New York City Police Department via AP

Police officers arrive at the scene following a shooting incident in New York on Oct. 31, 2017. Multiple people were hurt in downtown Manhattan, US media reported after police confirmed that they were responding to reports of a shooting.
Police said they had mobilized to the scene in Lower Manhattan and that one person was in custody, giving no further details.
Don Emmert, AFP/Getty Images

In this still image taken from video, emergency personnel respond to victims after a motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people Oct. 31, 2017 in New York. AP

NYPD officers respond after reports of multiple people hit by a truck after it plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on Oct. 31, 2017 in New York City. According to reports up to six people may have been killed. Kena Betancur, Getty Images

Emergency personal respond after reports of multiple people hit by a truck after it plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on Oct. 31, 2017 in New York City. According to reports up to six people may have been killed. Kena Betancur, Getty Images

Authorities respond near a damaged school bus on Oct. 31, 2017, in New York. A motorist drove onto a busy bicycle path near the World Trade Center memorial and struck several people on Tuesday police and witnesses said. Bebeto Matthews, AP

Police direct people away from the scene after reports of multiple people injured after a truck plowed through a bike path in lower Manhattan on October 31, 2017 in New York City. Andy Kiss, Getty Images